Abstract
To investigate the relationship between ghrelin and both fetal and neonatal growth parameters and energy balance, we measured plasma ghrelin concentrations in 54 cord blood samples (male, n = 34; female, n = 20; gestational age, 37.0-41.6 wk; birth weight, 2206-4326 g) and 47 neonatal blood samples (male, n = 27; female, n = 20; postnatal d 3-8). The plasma ghrelin concentrations in cord blood ranged from 110.6-446.1 pmol/liter (median, 206.7 pmol/liter), which were equal to or higher than those in normal weight adults. These values were inversely correlated with birth weight (r = -0.40; P = 0.002), birth length (r = -0.36; P = 0.007), placental weight (r = -0.35; P = 0.01), and IGF-I concentration (r = -0.49; P = 0.0002), but were not significantly correlated with the GH concentration (r = 0.22; P = 0.12). The ghrelin concentrations in small for gestational age newborn were significantly higher than those in appropriate for gestational age newborns (P = 0.0008). The ghrelin concentrations in the vein were significantly higher than those in the artery in 8 cord blood samples (P = 0.01), which suggests that the placenta is an important source of fetal ghrelin. In neonates, the ghrelin concentrations ranged from 133.0-481.7 pmol/liter (median, 268.3 pmol/liter), which were significantly higher than those in cord blood (P < 0.0001). These results suggest that ghrelin may contribute to fetal and neonatal growth.
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